MriM 


A   SUMMARY   OF    EVIDENCE 


A  JL9CTURB  DELlVKRftD  IN   MONTREAL,  MARCH,    1 883 


BY 


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> 


ROBERT  c.  Adams 


NEW  YORK 
G .  P.  PUTNAM'S    S 

i7  *  99  WEST  ajD  STREET 


EVOLUTION 


A    SUMMARY    OF    EVIDENCE 


A    LECTURE    DELIVERED    IN    MONTREAL,    MARCH,     1883 


BY 


ROBERT   C.  ADAMS 


•  »    :   . 


NEW    YORK 
G.    r.    PUTNAM'S    SONS 

27   &    29    WEST   23D   STREET 
1883 


Copyright  by 
ROBERT  C.  ADAMS 

1883 


B.Q.R. 


^3 


91 

• « 
« •  • 


« •  •  •  •  • 


*         • 


\i 


C  p.  Putnam's    Sons 
New  York 


EVOLUTION. 


The  Germans  say,  **  What  is  true  is  plain,"  but 
many  persons  who  begin  to  read  about  Evokition 
meet  the  assertions,  that  the  development  of  life  pro- 
ceeds from  the  homogeneous  to  the  heterogeneous, 
and  that  changes  in  the  environment  lead  to  differ- 
entiation ;  and,  as  these  statements  lack  plainness, 
the  readers  say  :  "  What  is  obscure  is  false."  Much 
prejudice  has  been  excited  against  Evolution  by  the 
use  of  long  words,  which,  though  most  serviceable 
to  the  learned,  are  perplexing  to  the  uninitiated. 

An  abstract  of  many  books  is  here  presented  in 
plain  language,  and  for  a  fuller  exposition  of  the  sub- 
ject, in  a  remarkably  lucid  and  interesting  manner, 
the  reader  is  earnestly  referred  to  a  work  lately  issued 
by  Messrs.  Chatto  &  Windus  of  London,  and  re- 
published by  Messrs.  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons  of  New 
York,  "  Chapters  on  Evolution,"  by  Professor  Andrew 
Wilson  of  Edinburgh,  a  work  which  has  been  of  much 
service  in  the  preparation  of  this  paper. 

In  earlier  times  it  was  believed  that  the  earth  was 
a  flat  surface  of  moderate  extent,  roofed  over  by  a 
solid  sky,  under  which  were  placed  sun,  moon,  and 
stars,  small  orbs  designed  to  give  light  to  the  earth 
around  which  they  revolved.     These  people  believed 


51133 


2  EVOLUTION. 

that  all  the  existing  forms  of  nature  were  made  out 
of  nothing,  at  the  word  of  a  Creator,  during  six  days 
of  evening  and  morning.  They  thought  that  all 
forms  of  life  were  originally  made  in  their  existing 
form  complete,  whether  insect  or  elephant,  grass- 
blade  or  oak-tree  ;  and  they  believed  that  since  the 
day  of  creation  each  species  had  reproduced  its  kind 
without  important  variation. 

These  theories  of  the  earth  and  heavens  were 
generally  accepted,  until  Copernicus  and  Galileo 
began  to  influence  opinion  by  calling  attention  to 
evidences  that  the  earth  was  round  and  that  it  moved ; 
ideas  that  were  afterward  demonstrated  by  Kepler 
and  Newton.  But,  although  some  thinkers  suggested 
other  views,  the  early  theory  of  life  remained  with- 
out serious  opposition  till  the  present  century,  when 
Lamarck  in  1801  formulated,  and  Darwin  in  i858 
supported,  the  theory  of  Evolution. 

These  writers  studied  the  laws  of  Evolution  as 
applied  to  organic  life  upon  the  earth  ;  but  Herbert 
Spencer,  prior  to  the  publication  of  Darwin's  great 
work,  •*  The  Origin  of  Species,"  began  to  treat  of 
Evolution  as  the  method  of  the  universe,  and  to 
apply  its  doctrines  to  every  department  of  material 
and  mental  existence. 

In  this  broadest  sense.  Evolution  is  the  theory 
that  all  the  varied  details  of  the  universe  are  the 
result  of  a  gradual  development  from  simpler  con- 
ditions, through  the  working  of  the  laws  of  nature 


EVOLUTION.  3 

which  now  surround  us.  Worlds,  minerals,  plants, 
animals,  man,  language,  morals,  laws,  literature,  arts 
and  sciences,  as  they  exist  to-day,  are  the  outcome 
of  the  unceasing  successions  of  cause  and  effect  that 
have  taken  place,  through  the  preceding  ages,  in 
accordance  with  natural  law. 

But  the  term  as  popularly  used  refers  more 
especially  to  life,  and  in  this  sense.  Evolution  is  the 
theory  that  all  existing  forms  of  life  have  been  pro- 
duced from  simpler  forms  by  a  gradual  process  of 
change.  Instead  of  an  unchangeable  universe  con- 
tinuing just  as  it  was  first  created,  the  Evolutionist, 
seeing  constant  variation  in  each  kind  or  species  of 
plants  and  animals,  has  learned  that  these  variations 
may  increase,  until,  in  a  long  course  of  natural  de- 
scent, forms  are  produced  that  appear  to  be  distinct 
species.  In  the  breeding  of  domestic  animals  and 
in  the  crossing  of  plants,  such  marked  differences 
result  in  a  short  time,  that  it  becomes  certain  such 
variation  continued  through  a  long  period  would  pro- 
duce forms  appearing  to  differ  in  kind  from  their 
ancestors. 

It  is  therefore  seen  to  be  both  possible  and  probable 
that  all  existing  forms  of  life  have  developed  from  a 
few  simple  forms,  or  even  from  one  form,  by  slow 
processes  of  change  continued  through  vast  ages. 

Natural  Selection, 
The  great  work  of  Darwin  was  to  point  out  the 


4  EVOLUTION. 

main  process  through  which  the  evolution  of  forms 
takes  place.  More  organisms  come  into  life  than 
the  means  of  subsistence  can  support.  This  leads  to 
a  struggle  for  existence.  There  is  some  variety  in 
the  forms  of  individuals  of  each  species  of  plants  and 
animals,  and  those  possessing  the  variations  most 
suited  to  their  conditions  are  enabled  to  survive, 
while  those  less  adapted  to  the  circumstances  perish. 
This  is  called  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  These  indi- 
viduals reproduce  in  their  offspring  the  variations 
that  have  benefited  them,  and  new  variations  occur, 
those  that  are  useful  being  perpetuated. 

Thus  there  is  a  continual  divergence  from  the 
parent  stock,  wherever  there  is  a  change  of  surround- 
ing conditions  that  makes  variations  serviceable  to 
existence.  When  these  variations  are  long  continued 
they  form  new  species.  But  where  there  is  no 
change  in  the  circumstances  of  life,  and  the  means 
of  existence  are  abundant,  there  is  little  or  no  change 
in  the  forms  of  life.  This  process  by  which  nature 
selects  the  forms  best  suited  to  their  surroundings  is 
called  by  Darwin  Natural  Selection. 

Sexual  Selection, 

Darwin  notes  another  cause  of  the  variation  of 
species,  which  he  calls  Sexual  Selection.  The  male 
animals  battle  for  the  possession  of  the  females.  The 
strongest  wins,  and  transmits  his  peculiarities  to  his 
descendants.     In  many  cases  the  female  selects  the 


EVOLUTION.  5 

male  possessing  the  most  perfect  form,  the  most 
pleasing  voice,  or  the  most  attractive  colors,  and 
these  advantages  are  perpetuated  in  their  offspring. 
An  improvement  in  the  song  and  beauty  of  male 
birds  arises  from  this  selection.  In  savage  races  the 
females  select  the  strongest  men  best  qualified  to  be 
defenders ;  but  in  civilized  races  the  choice  is  more 
influenced  by  intellectual  and  moral  qualities,  and  in 
each  case  the  race  shows  an  increasing  variation  in 
the  direction  of  these  selections. 

The  Unity  of  Animal  Life, 

The  proofs  of  the  theory  of  Evolution  extend  over 
the  whole  realm  of  nature.  The  most  prominent  of 
these  is  the  apparent  connection  of  all  forms  of 
animal  life,  such  as  would  exist  if  each  order  of  life 
had  grown  out  of  the  order  below  it.  The  students 
of  nature  are  continually  finding  intermediate  forms, 
or  "  missing  links,"  between  the  established  classes 
of  the  animal  kingdom.  As  a  tree  from  a  single 
stem  spreads  out  into  numerous  branches  and  twigs, 
so  life  appears  to  manifest  itself  in  a  series  of  forms, 
each  closely  allied  to  the  other,  or  with  such  strong 
resemblances  that  a  relationship  appears  certain. 

The  most  marked  distinction  between  animals  is 
the  possession  or  non-possession  of  a  backbone. 
The  theory  of  special  creation  was  long  supported 
by  triumphant  appeals  to  the  gap  between  the  back- 
boned (vertebrate)  and  the  non-backboned   (inverte- 


O  EVOLUTION. 

brate)  animals.  It  was  claimed  such  a  change  could 
only  have  been  made  by  the  special  act  of  God  in 
creating  a  new  form. 

But  in  the  lowest  fish,  known  as  the  lancelet  or 
amphioxus,  we  find  a  soft  rod  in  place  of  the  back- 
bone. This  is  called  the  notochord,  and  represents 
the  commencement  of  the  formation  of  the  backbone 
in  animals.  This  little  fish  is  only  one  or  two  inches 
long,  and  inhabits  sandy  coasts.  It  has  neither 
limbs,  heart,  nor  brain,  and  a  narrow  fin  is  the  only 
distinct  fish  appendage  that  it  possesses ;  but  in  many 
respects  it  resembles  the  molluscs,  or  soft-bodied 
invertebrates. 

One  of  the  molluscs,  the  sea-squirt,  or  ascidian,  is 
a  marine  animal  sh::^^ed  like  a  bag.  It  attaches  itself 
to  stones  at  low-water  mark,  and  when  handled  it 
squirts  water  from  its  orifices.  Some  of  its  species 
are  found  with  a  permanent  tail,  and  the  first  sign  of 
the  notochord,  the  dawning  backbone. 

Here  in  the  lancelet  and  sea-squirt  we  have  con- 
necting links  between  the  two  great  classes  of  verte- 
brates and  invertebrates,  and  the  gap  that  was 
supposed  to  exist  has  been  in  a  measure  filled.  The 
lamprey  is  another  link  above  the  lancelet,  and  other 
forms  illustrate  the  gradual  rise  of  backboned 
animals  from  the  invertebrates. 

The  articulates,  or  jointed  animals,  such  as  insects 
and  crustaceans  (animals  having  a  crust-like  shell), 
are  allied  to  the  molluscs  by  a  marine  worm  called 


EVOLUTION.  7 

Balanoglossus ,  which  has  characteristics  of  both 
divisions,  and  appears  to  be  an  intermediate  form  or 
Hnk  between  them. 

The  radiates,  or  rayed  animals,  as  the  starfishes, 
are  also  connected  with  the  articulates  by  worm-like 
forms  uniting  peculiarities  of  both  ;  and  through  the 
sponges  we  find  the  radiates  connected  with  the  pro- 
tozoans, or  first  forms  of  life,  such  as  corals  and  sea 
animalcules. 

Ascending  from  the  fish,  the  lowest  of  the  verte- 
brates, we  find  animals  between  the  fish  and  the  frog, 
and  between  frog  and  lizard,  that  link  fishes  and  rep- 
tiles. The  differences  between  reptiles  and  birds  are 
very  marked,  and  it  would  seem  at  first  thought  that 
no  connection  could  be  found  between  them,  but  the 
fossil  archa;opteryx,2i\\  ancient  winged  bird  with  a  long, 
jointed  tail  and  with  teeth,  is  pronounced  by  Prof. 
Vogt  to  be  an  undoubted  intermediate  form  between 
reptiles  and  birds.  Fossils  of  flying  reptiles  are 
found,  and  of  land  reptiles  that  approach  the  struct- 
ure of  birds. 

Birds  and  mammals  are  connected  by  living  forms 
found  in  Australia.  The  duck-billed  water-mole  has 
webbed  feet  and  a  duck's  bill,  and  the  fur  and  tail  of  a 
beaver,  and  has  teeth.  It  has  no  teats,  but  forces 
milk  from  little  holes  in  one  spot  of  its  body.  The 
Echidna  makes  a  little  advance  upon  this  by  having 
a  pouch  over  these  holes,  and  the  kangaroo  gives  us 
a   still    more   advanced  form.     A  great  distinction 


8  EVOLUTION. 

appears  between  animals  that  hatch  their  young  from 
eggs  and  those  that  give  birth  to  living  forms.  But 
we  find  animals  whose  young  break  the  ^^^  as  soon 
as  it  is  laid,  and  others  that  bring  forth  their  young 
in  an  imperfect  state  and  nourish  them  in  pouches 
until  fully  developed.  These  marsupials  are  inter- 
mediate forms,  and  suggest  other  connecting  links. 

The  researches  of  Prof  Marsh  among  the  Tertiary 
rocks  in  the  Western  States  have  revealed  several 
intermediate  forms  between  existing  groups  of 
animals.  Fossils  are  found  which  combine  charac- 
teristics of  the  bear  and  the  beaver  ;  others  connect 
the  rat  and  the  ant-eater,  the  odd-toed  and  the  even- 
toed  animals,  the  whale  and  the  seal,  the  swine  and 
the  ruminants.  An  eminent  naturalist  was  asked, 
"  Do  you  find  the  missing  links  ?  "  **  Yes,  thousands 
of  them  ! "  was  the  reply. 

The  resemblance  between  apes  and  men  is  very 
marked,  and  Haeckel  says  :  "  It  requires  but  a  slight 
stretch  of  imagination  to  conceive  an  intermediate 
form  between  the  lowest  woolly-haired  man  and  the 
highest  man-like  apes."  A  great  outcry  is  made  for 
the  presentation  of  this  missing  link,  that  shall  com- 
pletely fill  up  the  gap  which  exists.  But  the  Evolu- 
tion theory  does  not  require,  as  many  suppose,  that 
man  should  have  descended  directly  from  the  exist- 
ing form  of  apes.  The  gorilla  and  man  are  at  the 
top  of  different  branches,  which  have  sprung  from 
the  same  limb  of  the  tree  of  life.     The  connection 


EVOLUTION.  9 

comes  at  some  lower  part  of  the  tree,  when,  as 
Wilson  says,  **  from  a  common  ancestor  the  human 
and  ape  types  took  divergent  roads  and  ways  toward 
the  ranks  of  nature's  aristocracy." 

Gabriel  de  Mortelet  has  just  issued  in  Paris  a 
scholarly  work,  which  he  claims  establishes  the  fact 
"  that  during  Tertiary  times  there  existed  a  being 
intelligent  enough  to  produce  fire  and  to  fabricate 
instruments  of  stone  ;  but  this  being  was  not  yet  a 
man."  More  evidence  needs  to  be  accumulated 
before  his  conclusion  can  be  considered  to  be  proved; 
but  all  analogies  of  the  animal  kingdom  point  to  the 
former  existence  of  more  man-like  animals  than  have 
yet  been  found.  Only  the  discovery  of  their  bones 
will  satisfy  many  minds,  but  what  has  already  been 
observed  of  the  connection  of  various  species  and 
classes  of  animals  gives  to  others  an  assurance  as  to 
the  relationship  of  man  to  animals  that  would  not  be 
increased  by  the  presentation  of  any  number  of 
"missing  links."  One  link  proves  the  existence  of  a 
chain. 

It  must  not  be  understood  that  every  animal  can 
be  traced  back  by  connecting  links  to  a  lower  one, 
but  that  the  types  or  great  classes  of  animals  are 
more  or  less  connected.  A  great  number  of  indi- 
viduals, however,  can  be  followed  back  to  earlier 
forms,  and  analogy  suggests  that  all  might  be  thus 
traced  had  not  time  destroyed  the  records.  Huxley 
says  :  **  If  one  series  of  species  has  come  into  exist- 


10  EVOLUTION. 

ence  by  the  operation  of  natural  causes,  it  seems  fol- 
ly to  deny  that  all  may  have  arisen  in  the  same  way." 
Although  gaps  still  exist  and  missing  links  are  looked 
for,  descent  is  traced,  in  Huxley's  words,  '*  not  in  one 
straight  series  but  by  many  roads,  step  by  step,  gra- 
dation by  gradation,  from  man  at  the  summit  to 
specks  of  animated  jelly  at  the  bottom  of  the  series  "; 
or,  as  Prof.  Clifford  expresses  it :  '*  The  theory  is,  that 
at  a  stupendous  distance  of  time  all  species  were 
alike,  mere  specks  of  jelly ;  that  they  gradually 
diverged  from  each  other  and  got  more  and  more 
different,  till  at  last  they  attained  the  almost  infinite 
variety  that  we  now  find." 

Thus  by  observation  of  living  animals  and  of  their 
fossil  remains  we  find  that,  although  for  convenience 
naturalists  arrange  animals  into  six  or  seven  large 
divisions,  there  are  many  forms  coming  between 
these  divisions,  and  it  is  hard  to  say  where  one  be- 
gins or  another  ends.  There  is,  therefore,  evidence 
of  the  unity  of  all  animal  life, — a  sufficient  resemblance 
and  connection  to  make  it  extremely  probable  that  a 
relationship  exists  between  all,  and  that  they  have 
sprung  from  a  common  origin. 

/  The   Unity  of  Plant  Life. 

Plants  are  divided  into  two  great  classes,  the  flower- 
less  and  the  flowering.  These  are  again  divided  in- 
to four  classes,  having  hard  names,  and  there  are 
further  subdivisions.     It  is  found  that  the  plant  world 


EVOLUTIOX,  II 

Is  composed  of  marked  types,  just  as  is  the  animal 
kingdom,  and  also  that  there  are  connecting  links 
between  each  class.  The  sea-weeds  are  joined  by  in- 
termediate forms  to  the  lichens,  and  the  ferns  and 
club-mosses  connect  the  flowerless  with  the  flowering 
plants.  The  whole  plant  world  is  bound  together  by 
the  evidence  of  a  continued  relationship  from  the 
lowest  to  the  highest  form. 

The   Unity  of  All  Life. 

We  have  seen  that  the  animal  world  may  be  con- 
sidered a  unit,  a  more  or  less  closely  connected  as- 
cending series  of  diverging  organisms.  Then  we 
have  also  seen  that  the  plant  world  is  linked  together 
in  a  manner  that  suggests  progressive  development 
from  its  simplest  to  its  most  varied  forms.  But  it  is 
found  that  animals  and  plants  are  joined  by  inter- 
mediate forms  that  puzzle  naturalists  to  tell  which 
kingdom  they  belong  to.  Haeckel  calls  these  forms 
Protista.  They  combine  certain  peculiarities  of  the 
lowest  forms  of  the  two  realms  of  life,  and  thus  estab- 
lish the  unity  of  all  life  that  exists  upon  the  earth. 
They  represent  a  stage  of  existence,  early  in  the 
world's  history,  before  life  divided  into  the  two 
branches  of  animal  and  plant.  Thus  we  find  that 
the  quarter  of  a  million  of  species  of  animals  and 
plants  can  be  fairly  assumed  to  have  arisen  from  a 
common  origin.  If  they  were  created  at  once  in  all 
these  distinct  forms,  we  are  at  a  loss  to  see  any  mean- 


12  evolution: 

ing  in  their  construction,  but  if  we  conceive  that  the 
present  condition  of  living  things  is  the  result  of  con- 
tinued modifications  of  the  parent  forms,  then  the 
whole  chain  of  life  becomes  intelligible  to  us. 

Unity  of  Substance. 

We  have  seen  that  all  animal  and  plant  life  is 
allied  in  form,  and  we  find  further  that  it  is  identical 
in  substance.  The  microscope  discovers  that  the 
vegetable  cells  and  the  animal  cells  are  alike  com- 
posed of  what  is  called  protoplasm,  or  first  form, 
which  closely  resembles  the  white  of  ^%g,  a  clear 
semi-fluid  substance.  One  of  the  lowest  forms  of 
animal  life,  the  Amoeba,  is  just  a  speck  of  this  sub- 
stance, and  in  the  nettle-hair  the  protoplasm  is  seen 
lining  the  woody  matter  that  forms  the  wall  of  the 
cells  that  compose  its  structure.  These  cells  of  pro- 
toplasm increase  by  division,  multiplying  themselves 
and  combining  into  varied  structures.  Microscopic 
examination  shows  that  the  human  body,  in  all  its 
parts,  is  built  up  of  these  little  cells  of  protoplasm 
The  blood  carries  these  little  specks,  resembling  the 
amoeba,  to  the  place  where  they  are  to  combine  in 
the  structure. 

Not  only  is  the  body  composed  of  protoplasm,  but 
it  originates  in  a  single  cell  of  this  substance,  and  the 
germs  which  produce  men,  dogs,  sheep,  or  any  of 
the  highest  class  of  animals,  cannot  be  discovered  to 
differ  by  any  test  of  microscope  or  chemistry. 


ErOLUT/ON.  13 

Protoplasm  is  therefore  styled  by  Huxley,  "  the 
physical  basis  of  life,"  and  is  seen  to  constitute  the 
essential  parts  of  every  living  thing,  animal  or  plant, 
from  the  whale  to  the  minnow,  or  the  pine  to  the 
sea-weed. 

We  thus  learn  that  there  is  not  one  life  of  animals 
and  another  of  plants,  but  that  their  existences  are 
similar  in  nature.  The  same  "  vital  force"  acts  with- 
in each,  and  is  seen  at  work  also  in  the  mineral 
kingdom,  forming  crystals  and  combining  various  ele- 
ments into  one  form.  As  all  material  things  are  now 
supposed  to  be  the  variation  of  one  original  sub- 
stance, so  all  the  forms  of  matter  are  the  results  of 
one  force  manifested  in  different  ways. 

Thus  we  come  to  the  unity  of  all  nature.  From 
the  original  existence  of  moving  matter,  the  laws  of 
Evolution  construct  the  varied  universe. 

Embryology. 

Not  only  do  we  trace  the  connection  of  all  forms 
of  life,  by  observing  the  relationship  of  living  and 
fossil  species,  but  we  have  a  marvellous  testimony 
to  the  common  origin  of  all  organic  life,  by  the  study 
of  embryology,  or  the  development  of  animals  from 
the  egg-speck  or  germ  to  the  adult  form. 

It  was  supposed  by  many  in  the  past  that  the 
germ  contained  the  minute  form  of  the  perfected 
animal,  which  merely  expanded  to  its  final  shape,  or 
else  had  new  parts  suddenly  added  to  existing  organs. 


14  EVOLUTION. 

Aristotle  first  maintained  that  the  chick  developed 
from  a  little  speck  on  the  surface  of  the  yolk  of  the 
egg  ;  and  Harvey,  discoverer  of  the  circulation  of  the 
blood,  declared  that  the  forms  were  gradually  devel- 
oped from  this  speck  through  the  action  of  the  blood. 

The  great  discovery  of  more  recent  times  in  this 
department  is  the  fact,  that  the  germs  of  all  animals 
appear  to  be  alike  in  their  earliest  stage,  and  they 
develop  through  similar  forms  until  they  assume  the 
special  features  of  their  own  species.  The  embryo 
of  each  animal  successively  resembles  the  embryos 
of  the  races  below  it,  until  they  part  company  to  attain 
their  final  form. 

The  lowest  forms  of  life,  the  protozoans,  repro- 
duce themselves  by  division  of  their  oodies,  or  the 
formation  of  buds,  but  all  other  animals  produce  eggs, 
which,  when  fertilized,  divide  and  sub-divide  till  they 
form  a  mass  of  cells  like  a  mulberry.  The  germ  then 
gradually  changes  info  a  cup-form,  called  gastrtda, 
having  two  different  layers,  called  the  primary-germ 
layers.  The  germs  of  all  invertebrates  pass  through 
these  changes,  as  do  also  those  of  the  vertebrates,  as 
far  as  observed.  Other  changes  occur  which  are 
common  to  all  animal  germs,  each  one  passing  through 
the  forms  common  to  the  races  below  it,  and  then 
diverging  to  its  own  peculiarities. 

The  development  of  man,  as  far  as  traced,  agrees 
with  that  of  lower  animals  :  the  morula  or  mulberry 
stage  is  shown,  as  in  the  sponge,  sea-squirt,  and 


EVOLUTION.  15 

lancelet  ;  and  so  on  through  forms  1  csembling  stages 
of  the  embryos  of  fish,  reptile,  and  quadruped.  Not 
that  man  is  ever  a  fish  or  beast,  but  his  embryo  and 
that  of  a  fish  at  certain  periods  are  almost  identical, 
and  each  diverges — the  fish  toward  its  final  form,  and 
man  toward  a  resemblance  to  the  embryo  of  a  higher 
class,  at  a  period  before  it  assumes  its  complete 
shape. 

.  Haeckel  in  *'  The  Evolution  of  Man,"  gives  a  plate 
illustrating  the  development  of  the  fish,  salamander, 
tortoise,  chick,  hog,  calf,  rabbit,  and  man,  which 
shows  that  at  some  period  there  is  a  correspondence 
of  form  between  the  embryos  of  each  which  demon- 
strates their  relationship,  and  can  only  be  explained 
by  admitting  the  unity  of  the  nature  of  all  verte- 
brates. 

What  is  the  meaning  of  these  remarkable  facts  ? 
Is  it  probable  that  the  Creator,  after  making  all  things 
at  once  in  a  perfect  form,  decided  that  all  future 
structures  should  pass  through  all  the  gradations  of 
lower  forms  before  assuming  their  designed  condi- 
tions, or  do  the  facts  suggest  that  each  hidividtial 
declares  to  us  the  history  of  its  race  ?  If  in  twenty-one 
days  the  chick  passes  through  the  forms  common  to 
sponges,  shell-fish,  fish,  and  reptiles,  does  it  not  sug- 
gest that  its  race  may  have  developed  through  these 
lower  races  during  vast  ages  ?  If  in  forty  weeks  a 
single  man  now  develops  through  forms  common  to 
all  the  lower  races  of  animals,  may  not  the  race  of 


1 6  EVOLUTION. 

man  have  slowly  arisen  through  all  the  ranks  of  life 
below  him,  each  great  division  leaving  its  record  in 
the  unfolding  germ  of  the  latest  individual  ? 

The  embryos  of  all  vertebrates,  including  man, 
have  tails,  and  all  show  the  gill-clefts  of  fishes  in  their 
early  condition.  Wilson  says  :  "But  reptiles,  birds, 
and  quadrupeds  are  lung-breathers  and  possess  gills 
at  no  period  of  their  life.  Why  should  they  develop 
gill-clefts,  which  bear  no  relation  to  the  wants  of  their 
adult  existence  ?  W^hy  does  this  useless  expenditure 
of  creative  power  exist  ?  "  The  only  answer  is  that 
the  forms  are  inherited  from  early  ancestors.  Dar- 
win says :  •*  We  have  only  to  suppose  that  a  former 
progenitor  possessed  the  parts  in  question  in  a  per- 
fect state,  and  that  under  changed  habits  of  life  they 
became  greatly  reduced,  either  from  simple  disuse  or 
through  the  natural  selection  of  those  individuals 
that  were  least  encumbered  with  a  superfluous 
part." 

Metamorphosis, 

It  is  not  only  in  the  ^gg  or  embryo  that  we  see 
these  developments.  Many  animals  after  birth 
change  to  higher  forms.  The  frog  appears  first  as  a 
fish,  then  as  a  tailed  newt,  and  finally  as  the  tailless 
air-breathing  frog.  The  development  of  the  butter- 
fly from  the  caterpillar  is  a  familiar  instance.  The 
starfish  is  first  a  swimming  worm-like  creature.  The 
flat  sole  begins  life  at  the  top  of  the  water,  with  a 


EVOLUTION.  17 

round  body  and  eyes  on  each  side  of  its  head,  then 
falls  to  the  bottom,  becomes  flat,  and  one  eye  moves 
to  its  top  side.  The  crab  has  at  first  a  tail  appendage 
like  a  lobster  or  shrimp.  Although  the  frog  usually 
develops  from  a  fish  form  after  birth,  the  Surinam 
toad  brings  forth  perfect  frogs,  which,  however,  have 
passed  through  the  fish  stage  when  within  the  parent's 
body. 

It  follows  from  these  illustrations,  selected  from  a 
vast  and  constantly  increasing  store  of  facts,  that  no 
animal  is  suddenly  produced  in  the  form  of  its  parent. 
They  pass  in  the  ^gg  or  germ  state  through  the 
successive  stages  of  lower  orders  until  they  reach  the 
perfect  form,  or,  if  they  are  born  when  the  process 
has  been  only  partially  completed,  they  pursue  the 
upward  changes  after  birth  by  the  process  we  call 
metamorphosis,  or  transformation.  Therefore  the 
development  of  all  life  is  similarly  from  lower  to 
higher  forms,  the  difference  being  that  sometimes 
the  changes  are  wholly  completed  within  the  parent's 
body,  and  sometimes  only  partly  there,  the  changes 
being  finished  after  birth.  Metamorphosis,  there- 
fore, is  common  to  all,  to  the  dog  as  well  as  the 
butterfly,  the  changes  merely  taking  place  under 
dififerent  circumstances. 

Morphology, 

Evolution  is  strongly  supported  by  observation  of 
the  development  of  separate  organs  of  the  body,  the 


1 8  EVOLUTION. 

science  of  Morphology.  One  of  the  most  striking 
proofs  of  the  evolution  of  present  organs  from  differ- 
ent pre-existing  forms  is  furnished  by  the  horse. 
The  forelimb  of  the  horse  is  modelled  upon  a  type 
similar  to  that  of  the  arm  of  man.  The  upper  arm 
is  concealed  beneath  the  skin  ;  the  forearm  reaches 
to  the  knee,  which  is  the  wrist,  having  only  seven 
bones  in  it,  while  man  has  eight.  Man  has  five  palm 
bones,  but  the  horse  seems  to  have  but  one — the 
long  shank,  or  *'  cannon-bone,"  which  corresponds 
to  the  bone  supporting  the  third  finger.  Below  the 
fetlock  comes  this  finger  with  three  joints,  having  its 
nail  enlarged  into  the  hoof.  Thus  the  horse  walks 
upon  one  finger,  the  third  in  man.  But  alongside  the 
cannon-bone  are  the  two  splint-bones,  which  are 
proved  to  be  rudimentary  palm  bones  of  the  second 
and  fourth  fingers.  The  proof  of  this  is  that  the 
horse  is  traced  back  by  means  of  fossil  remains  in 
Europe  and  India,  and  is  found  to  have  three  toes 
fully  developed.  In  1870  Prof.  Huxley  predicted 
that  a  five-toed  horse  would  be  found,  and  in  Amer- 
ica a  fossil  has  been  discovered  with  four  toes,  and 
the  rudiment  of  a  fifth.  Each  increase  of  members 
is  found  in  an  earlier  series  of  rocks,  showing  that 
the  change  has  been  progressive  during  vast  periods 
of  time. 

Thus  the  present  horse  is  proved  to  have  devel- 
oped from  a  five-toed  animal.  As  far  back  as  we 
can  go  we  find  animal  forms  changing  by  slow  de- 


EVOLUTION.  19 

grees.     Analogy  teaches   that  this  hae:  always  been 
the   order   of  nature.       By   these    evidences    fron 
fossils,   Huxley  declares  :  "  The  evolution  of  many 
existing  forms  of  animal  life  from  their  predecessors 
is  no  longer  an  hypothesis,  but  an  historical  fact." 

The  horse  has  changed  the  structure  of  his  feet  to 
conform  to  altered  circumstances  that  make  it  desira- 
ble for  him  to  possess  speed.  By  natural  selection 
and  the  survival  of  the  swiftest,  the  variations  toward 
the  present  hoof  have  been  preserved.  Some  may 
wonder  that  such  degcneraiion  of  parts  is  called  evo- 
lution, but  the  changes  that  occur  are  for  the  advan- 
tage of  the  animal,  and  therefore  are  truly  an  advance. 

All  the  organs  of  the  body  are  traced  upward  in 
gradual  stages  from  the  simplest  beginnings.  A 
favorite  appeal  for  the  special -creation  theory  is  to 
point  to  the  marvellous  structure  of  the  human  eye. 
But  the  eye,  brain,  heart,  lungs,  limbs,  and  digestive 
organs  are  found  in  different  animals  in  conditions  that 
show  a  gradual  ascent  in  structure,  from  the  merest 
suggestion  of  the  organ  to  its  most  perfect  form. 
From  the  air-bladder  of  the  fish  to  the  lungs  of  man 
we  have  an  ascending  series  of  forms,  and  in  the 
mud-fish,  that  spends  half  the  year  in  dry  mud  and 
half  the  year  in  water,  we  find  the  transition  from 
the  bladder  to  the  lung, — another  "  missing  link." 
Scales  and  feathers  are  developments  of  the  skin, 
and  in  the  penguin  can  be  seen  the  intermediate 
forms,  half  scale  and  half  feather. 


20  EVOLUTION. 

Rudimentary  Organs, 

Strong  evidence  in  favor  of  the  descent  of  present 
species  from  other  forms  is  furnished  by  what  are 
called  rudimentary  orgajis — imperfectly  developed 
and  useless  members.  Crabs  have  eyes  at  the  ends 
of  stalks,  but  in  the  Mammoth  Cave  are  crabs  hav- 
ing stalks  without  eyes.  Disuse  has  caused  the 
eyes  to  disappear,  probably  growing  smaller  in  each 
generation,  but  the  stalks  remain  as  rudiments  and 
prove  the  former  possession  of  eyes  by  the  remote 
ancestors  of  the  existing  crabs.  The  right-whale  has 
teeth  before  birth,  which  are  gradually  absorbed  and 
disappear.  The  unborn  calf  has  front  teeth  in  the 
upper  jaw  beneath  the  gum,  but  the  adults  have  none. 
The  natural  inference  is  that  the  ancestors  of  whales 
and  calves  had  such  teeth  fully  developed.  Many 
birds,  such  as  the  ostrich  and  penguin,  have  abortive 
wings  ;  their  conditions  of  life  not  requiring  the 
exercise  of  these  organs,  they  have  diminished  in  size. 
Rudiments  of  limbs  are  found  in  the  python — a  large 
snake.  The  tail  is  traced  through  the  animal  king- 
dom through  various  changes,  till  in  some  of  the 
higher  monkeys  and  in  man  it  is  only  a  rudiment. 
There  it  remains  as  evidence  of  the  descent  of  man 
from  tailed  animals.  Otherwise  we  must  suppose 
that  when  the  Creator  made  man  out  of  the  dust  he 
decided  to  give  him  a  useless  tail-bone.  Lord  Mon- 
boddo,  a  Scotch  lawyer  of  the  last  century,  de- 
clared that  men  had  worn  off  their  tails  by  sitting  on 


EVOLUTION.  21 

them  ;  but  we  know  now  that  the  disuse  of  an  organ 
tends  to  its  disappearance,  and  that  a  change  in  the 
surroundings,  and  therefore  in  the  habits  of  animals, 
leads  to  changes  in  their  structures. 

Man  has  shrunken  muscles  in  his  cheeks,  such  as 
animals  use  to  move  their  ears,  and  he  has  the  re- 
mains of  a  third  inner  eyelid  which  is  common  to 
beasts.  The  finger  can  detect  a  little  projection  near 
the  top  of  the  ear  that  is  the  vestige  of  formerly- 
pointed  ears.  All  mammals  have  two  little  bones  in 
the  upper  jaw,  meeting  in  the  centre  of  the  face,  and 
called  the  mid-jaw  bone.  These  were  believed 
not  to  exist  in  man,  and  their  absence  was  claimed 
as  a  strong  proof  of  man's  separate  origin.  But 
Goethe,  the  great  German  poet  and  philosopher,  was 
so  fully  convinced  of  man's  descent  from  animals  that 
he  insisted  that  this  mid-jaw  bone  must  exist  in  man, 
and  at  last  he  found  it.  It  always  exists  in  the  human 
embryo,  but  at  an  early  period  disappears  by  a  union 
with  the  upper-jaw  bone.  Men  have  remnants  of 
muscles  used  by  animals  to  twitch  the  skin. 

Darwin  says :  "  He  who  rejects  with  scorn  the 
belief  that  his  own  canines  (teeth)  and  their  occasional 
great  development  in  other  men  are  due  to  our  early 
forefathers  having  been  provided  with  these  formi- 
dable weapons,  will  probably  reveal,  by  sneering, 
the  line  of  his  descent.  For  though  he  no  longer 
intends  nor  has  the  power  to  use  these  teeth  as 
weapons,  he  will  unconsciously  retract  his  *  snarling 


22  EVOLUTION. 

muscles  '  so  as  to  expose  them  ready  for  action,  like 
a  dog  prepared  to  fight." 

Wilson  also  notes  instances  of  rudiments  in  the 
plant  kingdom. 

Resemblance, 

The  similarity  in  the  structure  of  animals  of  the 
same  great  divisions,  though  of  different  species,  is  a 
special  proof  of  Evolution.  The  members  of  each 
great  class  are  identical  in  their  general  plan.  For 
instance, — the  articulates,  or  jointed  animals,  have 
the  heart  in  the  upper  part  of  the  body,  the  diges- 
tive system  in  the  middle,  and  the  nervous  system  in 
the  lower  part.  Lobsters,  crabs,  barnacles,  butter- 
flies, spiders,  and  all  the  thousands  of  species  of 
insects  agree  in  these  particulars.  In  the  vertebrates 
the  position  is  reversed  ;  the  nervous  system  is  on 
top  and  the  heart  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  body. 
There  are  always  two  pairs  of  limbSi  represented  in 
the  fish  by  fins,  in  the  bird  by  legs  and  wings,  in 
beasts  by  four  legs,  and  in  man  by  legs  and  arms. 
Fish,  frog,  reptile,  quadruped,  and  man  all  possess 
these  peculiar  features.  The  molluscs  are  dis- 
tinguished by  having  the  nervous  system  in  three 
great  masses.  Oysters,  cockles,  snails,  whelks,  and 
cuttle-fishes  all  agree  in  this.  The  radiates  have  all 
their  parts  arranged  uniformly  in  lines  diverging 
from  a  centre,  much  like  the  parts  of  a  flower.  Sea- 
urchins,  starfishes,  etc.,  are  of  this  type. 


EVOLUTION.  23 

Not  only  is  there  a  resemblance  in  the  general 
structure  of  animals,  but  the  organs  of  the  members 
of  each  class  show  a  striking  similarity.  The  arm 
of  man,  the  wing  of  the  bird,  the  forelimb  of  the 
horse,  the  paddle  of  the  whale,  and  the  forelimb  of 
the  frog  show  essentially  the  same  structure  and 
have  the  same  number  of  bones. 

Spencer  says  :  "  What  now  can  be  the  meaning 
of  this  community  of  structure  among  these  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  species  filling  the  air,  burrowing  in  the 
earth,  swimming  in  the  water,  creeping  about  among 
the  sea-weed,  and  having  such  enormous  differences 
of  size,  outline,  and  substance,  as  that  no  community 
would  be  suspected  between  them  ?  Why  under  the 
down-covered  body  of  the  moth  and  under  the  hard 
wing-cases  of  the  beetle  should  there  be  discovered 
the  same  number  of  divisions  as  in  the  calcareous 
framework  of  the  lobster?  It  cannot  be  by  chance 
that  there  exist  just  twenty  segments  in  all  these 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  species.  There  is  no  reason 
to  think  it  was  necessary  in  the  sense  that  no  other 
number  would  have  made  a  possible  organism.  And 
to  say  that  it  is  the  result  of  design — to  say  that  the 
Creator  followed  this  pattern  throughout,  merely  for 
the  purpose  of  maintaining  the  pattern,  is  to  assign 
a  motive  which,  if  avowed  by  a  human  being,  we 
should  call  whimsical." 

He  says  that  Evolution  alone  gives  a  rational  in- 
terpretation to  these  facts.     If  organic  forms  have 


24  EVOLUTION. 

arisen  from  common  stocks  by  perpetual  changes, 
such  as  were  required  to  adapt  them  to  their  sur- 
roundings, then  there  would  result  these  variously 
modified  forms,  retaining  traces  of  the  characters  of 
ancestral  races. 

Evolution,  therefore,  shows  that  animals  of  each 
type  resemble  each  other  because  they  have  a  com- 
mon ancestry.  Descent  ivith  modification  is  a  phrase 
that  explains  the  existing  facts.  All  the  allied  forms 
have  had  a  common  origin,  but  have  developed  dif- 
ferent peculiarities  in  consequence  of  having  been 
placed  in  differing  circumstances.  When  a  variation 
of  an  organ  occurred  that  was  of  advantage  it  was 
perpetuated  by  natural  selection. 

The  resemblance  of  man  to  animals  is  not  only 
observed  as  to  structure,  but  many  peculiarities  are 
possessed  in  common.  Parasites  infest  their  bodies, 
their  functions  follow  lunar  periods,  the  same  diseases 
afflict  them,  and  can  be  transmitted  from  one  to  the 
other — colds,  inflammations,  fevers,  apoplexy,  etc.,  as- 
sail each.  Drugs  affect  both  alike, — opium,  quinine, 
tobacco,  alcohol,  all  produce  similar  results  in  each 
and  prove  a  likeness  of  constitution.  Their  wounds 
heal  by  the  same  process.  The  laws  of  reproduction 
are,  in  Darwin's  words,  "  strikingly  the  same,  from 
the  first  act  of  courtship  of  the  male  to  the  birth  and 
maturing  of  the  young."  The  mental  powers  and 
moral  sense  are  of  the  same  character,  only  differing 
in  degree,  and  the  manner  of  expressing  emotions  is 
in  many  respects  similar  among  men  and  beasts. 


EVOLUTION.  25 

Degeneration  and  Reversion. 

But  the  evolution  of  forms  is  not  always  an  ad- 
vance, backward  steps  are  often  taken,  and  there  is 
retrogression  as  well  as  progress.  Yet  these  facts 
endorse  the  Evolution  theory  that  organisms  alter  to 
suit  their  surrounding  conditions  ;  if  the  forms  de- 
generate, it  is  because  the  assumed  form  is  more  suit- 
able to  the  changed  circumstances.  Some  forms  are 
found  to  exist  unchanged  from  very  early  ages.  The 
fossil  lampshells  in  the  chalk  resemble  almost  exactly 
those  living  in  our  own  seas,  the  reason  being  that 
the  conditions  of  their  marine  life  are  unaltered. 
The  king-crab  of  the  West  Indies,  the  nautilus,  and 
some  fishes  correspond  closely  to-day  to  their  fossil 
ancestors  ;  they  have  not  been  forced  in  the  struggle 
for  existence  to  make  use  of  changed  forms. 

Darwin  points  out  two  great  facts  in  nature. 
First,  that  there  is  a  tendency  to  vary  and  change  ; 
and  second,  that  when  a  change  of  surroundings  oc- 
curs, any  variation  of  form  that  is  of  advantage  in 
sustaining  existence  in  the  changed  conditions  is 
perpetuated  by  the  survival  of  the  possessor  of  the 
improved  organs,  while  less  favored  ones  perish. 
Thus  variation  and  natural  selection  account  for  the 
progressive  changes.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
variations  are  of  no  advantage  in  the  struggle  for  life, 
they  do  not  supplant  the  parent  form ;  or  if  earlier 
conditions  are  restored,  the  same  tendency  of  nature 
leads  to  a  reversion  to  the  previous  form  of  organs. 


26  EVOLUTION. 

Thus  retrogression,  stability,  and  progression  are  all 
accounted  for  and  harmonize  with  the  theory  of 
Evolution. 

The  Axolotl,  a  Mexican  newt  or  small  lizard  that 
retains  the  early  fish  gills  with  the  later  lungs,  when 
removed  to  Paris  was  found  to  develop  into  a  differ- 
ent animal,  a  gill-less  newt  named  Amblystoma,  prov- 
ing the  power  of  changed  circumstances  to  alter  the 
species.  This  case  may  be  a  reversion  to  an  earlier 
ancestral  form. 

Retrogression  is  shown  in  parasites.  The  ship 
barnacle  is  at  one  time  a  swimming  animal  with 
varied  organs,  but  after  attaching  itself  to  its  life 
abode  it  degenerates  to  a  lower  form,  because  in  its 
dependent  life  the  higher  development  of  organs  is 
useless.  The  horse  and  mule  sometimes  have 
stripes  on  their  legs  similar  to  those  of  the  zebra, 
suggesting  that  their  ancestors  have  had  that  pecul- 
iarity. In  Madeira  two  hundred  out  of  over  five 
hundred  species  of  beetles  "  are  so  deficient  in  wings 
that  they  cannot  fly."  The  beedes  that  fiew  well 
were  blown  out  to  sea,  but  those  with  smaller  wings, 
or  that  were  indolent,  remained  and  perpetuated 
their  peculiarities,  the  wings  growing  smaller  from 
disuse. 

Men  and  women  sometimes  show  reversion  to  the 
forms  of  animals,  such  as  hairy  bodies,  supplement- 
ary breasts,  and  animal  teeth  ;  one  man  in  sixty  has 
certain  muscles  peculiar  to  quadrupeds,  and  muscles 


r.voLUTioM.  27 

in  the  neck  peculiar  to  apes.  In  Darwin's  "  Descent 
of  Man  "  many  striking  facts  of  this  nature  are 
noticed.  Is  there  any  plausible  explanation  of  these 
facts  except  that  they  show  peculiarities  of  remote 
ancestors  ? 

Mimicry. 

The  theory  of  Evolution  is  supported  by  what 
Wallace  calls  mimicry.  This  is  the  resemblance 
shown  by  some  animals  and  plants  to  ether  animals 
or  plants,  perhaps  very  different,  or  to  other  natural 
objects.  The  *'  walking-leaf"  insect  looks  like  some 
vegetable  growth,  and  on  the  other  hand  some 
orchids  resemble  insects.  Insects  are  found  that 
resemble  pieces  of  bamboo,  bits  of  bark,  twigs,  and 
drops  of  dew,  and  many  animals  conform  in  color  to 
their  surroundings,  being  of  a  sandy  color  in  the 
desert  or  green  and  brown  in  the  forest.  A  butter- 
fly in  South  America  has  a  strong  odor  that  prevents 
its  being  devoured  by  creatures  that  eat  other  butter- 
flies. There  are  some  very  different  butterflies  that 
lack  this  peculiar  odor,  but  which  imitate  the  strong- 
smelling  kind  in  appearance. 

Natural  selection  explains  these  things  by  suppos- 
ing that  these  resemblances,  occurring  first  in  slight 
measure  as  variations  from  parent  forms,  have  pre- 
served the  existence  of  their  possessors  by  assisting 
their  concealment.  The  insects  and  animals  nearest 
in  color  to  the  leaves,  bark,  or  ground  upon  which 


28  EVOLUTION. 

they  live,  have  escaped  the  attacks  of  enemies,  or 
have  been  better  able  to  secure  food,  while  those 
less  favored  for  concealment  have  perished.  The 
butterfly  that  most  closely  resembled  the  disagreea- 
ble kind  had  the  least  chance  of  being  devoured. 
The  plants  that  most  resembled  insects  secured  the 
visits  of  the  insects  necessary  to  distribute  their  pol- 
len and  ensure  the  propagation  of  their  kind.  Thus 
the  survival  of  the  fittest  is  secured  by  these  resem- 
blances, and  the  tendency  in  successive  generations 
is  toward  greater  likeness  to  protective  or  useful 
forms. 

This  mimicry  of  animals  is  one  of  the  hardest 
things  to  explain  upon  the  special-creation  theory. 
The  Creator  is  supposed  to  have  made  all  these 
distinct  forms  ;  but  some,  especially  adapted  to  be 
the  food  of  others,  he  has  gifted  with  powers  of  con- 
cealment, while  others  are  left  without  protection,  a 
seeming  exhibition  of  injustice  and  partiality. 

Distribution. 

The  distribution  of  animals  and  plants  over  the 
earth's  surface  is  made  intelligible  by  the  Evolution 
theory  that  all  the  individuals  of  the  same  species 
have  proceeded  from  some  one  source,  and  have 
been  scattered  by  various  means,  such  as  winds,  cur- 
rents, seeds  attached  to  the  feet  of  birds,  and  the 
migrations  of  animals.  It  explains  why  oceanic 
islands  have  few  inhabitants,  and  often  of  a  peculiar 


E  i'OL  UTION,  29 

kind  ;  why  many  organisms  are  absent  from  islands  ; 
and  how  barriers  of  mountains  or  deep  straits  affect 
the  character  of  life  in  the  lands  on  either  side. 

It  was  the  observation  of  the  absence  from  the 
Gallapagos  Islands  of  many  animals  that  can  neither 
fly  nor  swim  that  led  Darwin,  in  his  voyage  in  the 
Beagle,  to  the  reflection  that  produced  his  theo- 
ries. Why  the  Creator  should  not  have  made  frogs 
in  islands  is  a  question  that  the  special-creation  theory 
does  not  answer.  Frogs  cannot  swim  far,  and  have 
stayed  at  home  on  the  continents.  The  life  upon 
islands  corresponds  to  that  of  the  mainlands  nearest 
to  them,  and  consists  of  such  kinds  as  can  be  trans- 
ported. 

It  was  wondered  why  kangaroos  and  some  other 
types  of  life  were  confined  to  Australia.  Wallace 
has  pointed  out  the  deep  channel  which  severed 
Australia  from  the  nearest  land,  and  prevented  the 
migration  of  animals.  Australia  was  formerly  joined 
to  the  continent  of  Asia,  and  possessed  similar  forms 
of  life  ;  but  becoming  separated,  she  has  preserved 
the  types  that  have  perished  elsewhere  by  the  com- 
petition of  other  animals,  that  the  conditions  of  her 
climate  did  not  tend  to  develop,  and  were  prevented 
by  the  Straits  of  Lombok  from  coming  to  her  lands. 

The  regions  that  have  been  most  completely  sepa- 
rated from  others  have  the  most  distinct  types  of 
life,  and  where  facility  for  the  migration  of  animals 
and  for  the  conveyance  of  seeds  has  been  greatest, 
there  we  find  the  greatest  variety  of  forms. 


30  EVOLUTION. 

The  Fertilization  of  Flowers. 

The  study  of  the  fertilization  of  flowers  shows,  as 
Wilson  says,  **  that  the  production  of  new  races  and 
varieties,  and  through  these  of  new  species,  is  part 
and  parcel  of  nature's  constitution." 

It  was  found  by  Darwin  "  that  close  interbreed- 
ing diminishes  vigor  and  fertility,  and  a  cross  with 
another  individual  is  occasionally  indispensable." 
Therefore  the  necessities  of  existence  lead  to  new 
varieties  of  form.  The  plant  kingdom  shows  a  law  of 
development  similar  to  what  prevails  in  the  animal 
kingdom. 

The  manner  in  which  cross-fertilization  is  produced 
by  winds  and  insects  conveying  the  pollen  of  one 
flower  to  the  pistil  of  another,  and  the  wonderful 
adaptation  of  the  forms  of  flowers  to  insects,  and  of 
insects  to  flowers,  is  a  fascinating  study  that  will 
reward  the  reader  of  the  works  of  Darwin  and  Gray. 
Each  peculiarity  of  color  and  form  is  believed  to  be 
an  element  in  the  reproduction  of  its  kind,  and  the 
old  theory  that  each  sort  of  flower  was  created  solely 
for  the  enjoyment  or  use  of  man  is  disproved.  The 
flower  that  has  produced  variation  in  color  that 
attracts  the  insect  whose  visit  is  needed  for  its  ferti- 
lization, or  that  which  has  varied  in  form  in  a  way 
best  to  deliver  its  pollen  to  the  visitor,  or  to  receive 
it,  is  perpetuated,  and  its  variation  is  preserved  and 
increased  in  subsequent  descendants,  while  the  forms 
less  adapted  to  attract  or  make  use  of  the  visits  of 


EVOLUTION.  31 

insects  die  out.  Thus  the  adaptation  of  flowers  to 
insects,  and  the  formation  of  new  species  by  cross- 
fertilization,  is  found  to  be  due  to  Natural  Selection, 
not  to  special  creative  design  that  formed  them  in 
their  present  shape  and  color. 

Geology. 

Geology  gives  the  strongest  support  to  the  theory 
of  Evolution.  The  life-bearing  rocks  are  supposed 
to  represent  a  thickness  of  about  1 30,000  feet.  These 
rocks  were  formed  from  deposits  of  ooze,  at  the 
bottom  of  the  waters,  which  gradually  hardened  into 
stone.  Vast  ages  were  required  for  these  formations, 
and  for  the  elevations  and  depressions  which  they 
have  undergone.  In  the  lower  half  of  these  strata  the 
only  forms  of  life  are  of  the  lowest  order,  and  the 
vegetable  life  is  mainly  of  sea-weeds.  In  the  next 
hiofher  strata  we  find  the  remains  of  fishes  and  ferns. 
Above  these  come  reptiles  and  pine  forests,  and 
birds  first  appear  ;  and  here  the  intermediate  form 
is  found  of  birds  with  toothed  jaws  and  lizard's  tail. 
The  first  sign  of  mammals  is  found  here,  the  teeth  of 
a  small  animal  of  the  kangaroo  type.  In  still  higher 
strata  appear  mammals  and  leaf  forests,  and  the 
animals  nearest  to  man  are  found.  Finally,  in  the 
latest  deposit  we  find  the  remains  of  man  and  of  cul- 
tivated forests.  But  this  era  of  man  is  not  one  two- 
hundredth  part  of  the  vast  ages  through  which  or- 
ganic life  has  existed,  and  he  appears  only  as  the  high- 


32  EVOLUTION. 

est  outcome  of  nature's  development,  the  top  branch 
of  the  tree  of  life.  And  yet,  though  so  late  in  the 
world's  history,  it  i.  probable  than  man  has  existed 
upon  the  earth  for  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years. 
The  evidence  for  the  antiquity  of  man  may  be  found 
in  the  writings  of  Lyell,  Lubbock,  and  Dawkins. 

The  rocks,  therefore,  show  that  both  animal  and 
plant  life  have  developed  gradually  from  lower  to 
higher  forms,  from  the  simple  structures  in  the 
earliest  ages  to  the  most  varied  and  elaborate  organ- 
isms of  the  present.  If  the  special-creation  theory  is 
true,  and  each  order  of  life  was  made  at  once,  we 
should  find  all  the  ranks  of  each  order  in  the  rocks 
of  one  period ;  whereas,  the  lower  forms  always 
come  before  the  higher,  proving  conclusively  that  no 
race  or  species  has  been  made  all  at  once,  and  that 
the  forms  of  life  have  not  degenerated  as  under 
a  curse,  but  that  the  course  of  nature  is  an  onward 
march  of  progress.  **  Of  special  creation  the  rocks 
tell  no  tale." 

The  Impeffedion  of  the  Record, 

That  the  geological  record  is  not  more  perfect  is 
easily  explained.  Only  the  hard* parts  of  animals  are 
preserved  and  the  soft-bodied  animals  would  not 
leave  many  traces,  though  the  tracks  of  sea- worms 
and  even  the  impress  of  a  jelly  fish  have  been  found. 
Many  animals  have  existed  at  a  distance  from  bodies 
of  water,  which  are  necessary  for  the  preservation  of 


EVOLUTION.  33 

fossils.  The  rocks  have  been  subject  to  convulsions 
and  heat,  which,  in  many  cases,  would  destroy  \k  ^.ir 
records.  It  is  to  be  remembered  also  that  the  varia- 
tion of  species  is  usually  a  very  slow  process.  We 
have  been  accustomed  to  consider  that  all  changes 
have  occurred  within  six  thousand  years,  but  when 
we  extend  nature's  operations  to  millions  of  years,  it 
is  not  so  surprising  that  the  records  of  her  action  are 
not  more  fully  preserved.  Comparatively  little  of 
the  earth's  surface  has  yet  been  scientifically  explored, 
and  it  is  too  early  to  say  what  the  rocks  may  not  dis- 
close. 

Threefold  Evidence. 

Scripture  tells  us,  "  A  threefold  cord  is  not  quickly 
broken  " ;  and  we  have  three  great  classes  of  evi- 
dence that  all  existing  life  has  been  developed  from 
lower  forms. 

1.  All  living  beings  from  the  animalcule  up  to  man 
show  a  connected  resemblance  of  forms  that  warrants 
the  comparison  of  animal  life  to  the  growth  of  a 
tree  ;  and  from  sea-weed  to  oak  tree  a  similar  con- 
nection of  all  plant  life  to  the  forms  below  and  above 
it  shows  that  the  same  comparison  may  be  made  of 
the  plant  kingdom. 

2.  Each  individual  begins  life  in  the  lowest  form 
of  matter,  and  develops  through  forms  common  to  all 
the  species  below  it.  A  man  has  by  turns  the  forms 
of  the  germs  of  plant,  protozoan,  mollusc,  articulate, 
and  vertebrate — fish,  reptile,  and  mammal. 


34  EVOLUTION. 

3.  The  existing  orders  of  life  are  proved  by  fos- 
sils in  the  rocks  to  have  developed  progressively  in 
time,  the  lowest  forms  being  of  the  earliest  date,  the 
highest  forms  belonging  to  the  latest  period. 

That  is  to  say  :  i.  Animals  and  plants  appear  as 
they  would  have  done  if  one  race  sprang  from 
another.  2.  Each  being  does  spring  from  forms 
common  to  the  races  below  it.  3.  Life  has  appeared 
on  the  earth  in  the  order  that  it  would  have  done  if 
each  higher  race  had  developed  from  a  lower  one. 

If  Evolution  appears  to  have  been  the  order  of 
nature,  does  not  reason  compel  us  to  believe  that 
such  has  been  its  method  ? 

Mans  Animal  Origin, 

Some  object  to  the  animal  origin  of  man  as  a 
matter  of  taste.  It  offends  their  sensibilities.  But 
taste  should  not  be  an  arbiter  in  the  judgment  of 
truth.  Nor  should  this  view  be  deemed  offensive. 
It  is  nobler  to  ascend  than  to  descend,  and  one  should 
prefer  to  be  an  improved  animal  rather  than  a 
degraded  angel.  Civilized  nations  are  the  descend- 
ants of  barbarians,  as  is  proved  by  customs,  belief, 
language,  etc.  Darwin  says  :  "He  who  has  seen  a 
savage  in  his  native  land  will  not  feel  much  shame 
if  forced  to  acknowledge  that  the  blood  of  some  more 
humble  creature  flows  in  his  veins.  For  my  own 
part  I  would  as  soon  be  descended  from  that  heroic 
little   monkey,   who  braved  his  dreaded  enemy   in 


EVOLUTION.  35 

order  to  save  the  life  of  his  keeper,  or  from  that  old 
baboon,  who  descending  from  the  mountains  carried 
away  in  triumph  his  young  comrade  from  a  crowd 
of  astonished  dogs — as  from  a  savage  who  delights 
to  torture  his  enemies,  offers  up  bloody  sacrifices, 
practises  infanticide  without  remorse,  treats  his  wives 
like  slaves,  knows  no  decency,  and  is  haunted  by 
the  grossest  superstitions." 

Mind, 

Some  who  admit  development  of  physical  forms 
from  lower  orders  still  cling  to  the  idea  that  the  mind 
of  man  is  a  special  creation.  But  consideration  of 
nature's  facts  will  show  the  gradual  development  of 
mind,  from  the  instinctive  movements  of  animalcules 
for  the  purpose  of  procuring  food  or  propagating 
their  kind,  until  its  upward  course  culminates  in  the 
thoughts  of  a  Newton  and  a  Darwin.  When  the 
coral  polyp  throws  out  its  lasso  to  capture  the  pass- 
ing food,  when  a  dog  answers  the  dinner-bell,  or 
when  a  man  raises  his  umbrella  to  the  rain,  is  not 
each  giving  evidence  of  the  existence  of  what  we 
call  mind  ?  There  is  a  progressive  development  of 
the  brain  in  the  higher  animals,  and  mental  powers 
correspond  in  force  with  this  growth. 

Haeckel  says  :  "The  human  mind  is  but  a  more 
highly  developed  ape-mind,"  and  Wallace  declares 
that  there  is  less  of  a  gap  between  the  minds  of  a 
dog  and  a   Hottentot  than  between  the  minds  of  a 


36  EVOLUTION. 

Hottentot  and  a  Newton.  Dr.  Gray  gives  instances 
of  the  exhibition  of  mind  in  plants,  as  when  they 
catch  and  devour  insects  or  reach  out  their  tendrils 
toward  supports.  Biichner  in  "  Mind  in  Animals," 
and  Romanes  in  **  Animal  Intelligence  "  give  this 
subject  a  very  satisfactory  treatment. 

As  force  is  in  the  muscles  so  thought  is  in  the 
brain.  The  magnet,  powder,  steam,  the  sensitive 
plant,  the  lancelet  burrowing  in  the  sand,  and  the 
thinking  man,  all  show  the  combination  of  force  and 
matter  which  constitutes  the  universe.  Mind  devel- 
ops in  the  child  from  bare  consciousness  to  the 
thoughts  of  a  philosopher.  Why  should  it  not  have 
developed  in  the  race  of  man  by  gradual  process  ? 
The  difference  between  the  mental  operations  of 
animals  and  men  is  one  of  degree  not  of  kind. 
Animals  think  the  same  kind  of  thoughts  that  men 
do  as  far  as  they  extend. 

Speech, 

Evolution  is  manifest  in  speech  and  in  human 
language.  The  origin  of  speech  dates  from  the  time 
of  the  development  of  the  organs  of  the  throat. 
Animals  have  the  power  of  communicating  ideas  to 
each  other,  and  we  can  observe  the  dawnings  of 
speech  in  their  cries.  Our  domestic  dogs  are 
descended  from  wolves  and  jackals,  and  have  learned 
to  bark  in  four  or  five  distinct  tones. 

In  language,  we  find  the  same  law  of  Evolution 


EVOLUTION..  37 

that  governs  physical  forms.  There  are  rudimentary 
words  and  letters — remains  of  ancestral  forms ;  varia- 
tions constantly  occur,  and  a  struggle  for  existence 
goes  on  between  words,  and  also  between  various 
languages.  The  survival  of  the  fittest  perhaps  will 
be  evidenced  in  the  future  universality  of  the  English 
tongue. 

Morals, 

Not  only  form,  mind,  and  speech  show  the  method 
of  Evolution,  but  morals  may  be  traced  upward  from 
the  emotions  of  animals  and  by  observation  of  savage 
races  of  men.  Agassiz  says  that  dogs  have  some- 
thing very  like  a  conscience.  Animals  show  love 
and  sympathy.  Moral  sense  has  been  developed  by 
the  perception  of  what  is  serviceable ;  and  intuitions 
of  right  and  wrong,  which  we  call  conscience,  are  in- 
herited from  ancestors,  and  are  the  result  of  their 
experience.  Therefore  we  may  hope  for  progress 
as  experiences  accumulate,  and  may  believe  that  in 
the  future  man  will  be  better  than  in  the  past. 

Arts. 

All  the  arts  and  sciences,  except  sculpture  and 
drawing,  may  be  traced  from  animal  origin  up  to 
their  highest  development  by  man,  by  the  same 
orderly  methods  that  prevail  in  the  physical  world. 
In  fact,  every  department  of  nature  proves  that  Evo- 
lution IS  Universal. 


38  EVOLUTION. 

Nebular  Hypothesis. 

The  nebular  hypothesis,  suggested  by  Sweden - 
borg,  Buffon,  and  Kant,  and  systematized  by 
Herschel  and  La  Place,  assumes  the  former  existence 
of  a  vaporous  matter,  extending  beyond  the  orbit  of 
the  farthest  planet,  which  by  rotation  gradually  gained 
solidity,  throwing  off  rings  which  broke  up  into 
planets  and  moons,  the  central  mass  forming  the 
present  sun.  The  existing  solar  system  is  satisfac- 
torily accounted  for  by  this  theory,  which  is  now 
generally  accepted  by  learned  men  as  the  best  expla- 
nation of  the  universe.  All  the  other  systems  of 
stars  are  supposed  to  have  originated  in  the  same 
manner. 

The  earth  being  thus  accounted  for  as  the  result  of 
a  natural  process,  the  evolutionist  sees  that  all  forms 
of  life  upon  it  may  have  developed  from  the  simplest 
cell-form  of  matter,  for  he  can  trace  an  almost  con- 
tinuous evolution  from  the  plant  cell  upward,  through 
all  the  grades  of  vegetable  and  animal  life,  to  the 
highest  development — man,  thus  establishing  the 
unity  and  connection  of  all  nature. 

Spontaneous   Generation, 

Sir  William  Thomson  has  suggested  that  life 
originated  on  the  earth  from  germs  contained  in 
meteoric  stones  that  fell  from  inhabited  planets.  But 
this  idea  has  not  received  much  support.  Haeckel 
and  many  others  maintain  that  the  first  forms  of  life 


EVOLUTION.  39 

came  by  spontaneous  generation.  Just  as  we  see 
crystals  form  themselves  to-day,  so  by  a  process, 
chemical  and  electrical,  the  atoms  of  carbon  com- 
bined into  the  speck  of  protoplasm  or  "  primitive 
slime,"  which  constitutes  the  lowest  living  form — the 
Moneron.  No  one  claims  that  organized  beings 
have  arisen  spontaneously ;  it  is  only  in  the  case  of 
Monera — **  structureless  organisms  without  organs" 
— that  spontaneous  generation  is  assumed  to  have 
occurred  at  the  first  beginning  of  organic  life  upon 
the  earth. 

If  the  whole  development  of  life  and  the  formation 
of  intricate  organs  proceed  without  supernatural 
aid,  why  should  we  assume  that  this  principle,  so  con- 
trary to  all  observed  action  of  nature,  must  have  acted 
to  produce  this  simple  beginning  of  life  in  the 
Moneron?  Chemistry  and  electricity  are  conceivable 
agents. 

Primeval  Matter, 

• 

Dr.  T.  Sterry  Hunt  has  stated  the  hypothesis  that 
universal  space  is  filled  with  a  simple  form  of  matter 
from  which  the  worlds  have  been  evolved  by  a  pro- 
cess of  chemical  condensation.  He  found  that  this 
theory  had  been  anticipated  in  some  little  known 
writings  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  who  suggested  that  all 
space  may  be  filled  with  an  ethereal  substance  which 
is  the  food  of  plants  and  the  material  principle  of 
life.  He  says  :  '*  Thus,  perhaps,  all  things  may  be 
originated  from  ether." 


40  EVOLUTION. 

Dr.  Hunt  states  that  the  earth  has  already  ab- 
stracted from  the  air  chemical  elements,  such  as 
carbon,  equal  in  weight  to  not  less  than  two  hundred 
times  its  atmosphere.  These  elements,  which  com- 
pose rocks,  plants,  and  animals,  he  suggests  have 
been  supplied  gradually  to  the  air  from  this  ether  or 
gas  that  fills  the  space  around  earth  and  stars. 

As  we  trace  back  human  life  to  the  plant  cell,  we 
can  trace  its  earlier  origin  and  present  sustenance 
indirectly  to  the  ether. 

History  of  Evolution. 

Evolution  is  by  some  considered  to  be  a  new  doc- 
trine, but  like  all  the  great  discoveries  of  man,  it  has 
grown  through  the  ages  by  slow  gains  of  knowledge. 
Its  principles  are  foreshadowed  in  the  teachings  of 
Greek  philosophers  two  thousand  years  ago.  Anaxi- 
mander,  Heraclitus,  Empedocles,  Democritus,  the 
Roman  poet  Lucretius,  and  others,  treated  of  the 
natural  development  of  the  world  from  simple  ele- 
ments, and  of  all  life  from  atoms. 

In  later  times,  Kant,  Laplace,  Goethe,  Wolff, 
Lamarck,  Von  Baer,and  others,  added  to  the  advance 
of  the  theory  ;  and  in  our  own  day,  Darwin,  Wal- 
lace, and  Spencer  have  so  classified  facts  that  Evolu- 
tion, in  its  main  outlines,  has  become,  to  most 
scientific  minds,  no  longer  a  theory,  but  a  proved  fact. 

An  eminent  naturalist  says  :  "  With  one  excep- 
tion, every  man  in*  the  world  who  can  properly  be 


EVOLUTION.  41 

called  a  naturalist  has  accepted  the  theory  of  Evolu- 

A.'  " 

tion. 

Summary. 

Now,  to  summarize  the  evidences  previously 
alluded  to,  we  find  : — 

1.  The  Nebular  Hypothesis — the  formation  of 
worlds  from  the  moving  •'  star  dust  " — agrees  with 
all  known  facts  concerning  the  solar  system,  and 
is  accepted  as  the  best  explanation  of  the  universe. 

2.  All  the  orders  of  the  animal  world  show  a  con- 
nection, more  or  less  complete,  by  which  an  ascend- 
ing tree  of  life  spreads  out  from  a  common  root. 

3.  All  the  classes  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  are 
likewise  allied  by  a  continuous  succession  of  forms. 

4.  Animal  and  vegetable  life  meet  in  the  lowest 
forms  and  suggest  a  common  origin. 

5.  All  vegetable  and  animal  life  originate  in  cells 
of  protoplasm  which,  to  all  appearance,  are  alike. 

6.  Every  animal  before  reaching  its  adult  form 
passes  through  forms  common  to  the  races  below  it. 
These  changes  occur  either  wholly  before  birth,  as  in 
the  case  of  quadrupeds  and  man,  or  partly  after  birth, 
as  with  frogs  and  butterflies.  The  only  intelligible 
way  of  accounting  for  this  development  of  individuals 
is  to  suppose  that  the  races  to  which  they  belong 
have  developed  in  a  similar  manner  from  lower 
orders,  and  the  history  of  their  descent  is  repeated  in 
the  history  of  each  individual.  "  Development  re- 
peats descent." 


42  EVOLUTION. 

7.  Animals  and  plants  have  rudiments  of  organs, 
which  are  useless  and  in  some  cases  disappear  in 
adult  life.  This  can  only  be  explained  by  the  sup- 
position that  these  forms  are  inherited  from  ancestors 
who  possessed  them  fully  developed. 

8.  Change  of  surroundings  causes  change  in  the 
organs  of  animals,  in  consequence  of  the  survival  of 
those  who  possess  any  peculiarity  that  makes  them 
better  fitted  to  endure  the  changes,  and  these  peculi- 
arities become  fixed  in  their  descendants. 

9.  These  changes  of  surroundings  sometimes  lead 
animals  to  revert  to  the  forms  of  lower  organisms, 
making  it  probable  that  their  race  formerly  arose 
from  those  forms  through  the  influence  of  changed 
conditions,  which  ceasing,  the  new  forms  are  no  longer 
useful  and  disappear. 

10.  The  mimicry  by  animals  of  resemblances  that 
are  useful  shows  that  new  species  may  arise  by  the 
perpetuation  of  useful  variations  of  form  or  color. 

11.  The  distribution  of  animals  and  plants  over 
the  earth  shows  that  natural  causes  account  for  the 
presence  of  each  kind  in  its  locality. 

12.  The  study  of  fossil  remains  of  plants  and 
animals  reveals  links  between  orders  so  separate  that 
they  have  been  regarded  as  special  creations.  But 
these  intermediate  forms  show  the  transition  from 
one  species  to  another. 

13.  In  the  oldest  rocks  the  lowest  forms  of  life  are 
found,  and  higher  forms  appear  successively  in  later 


EVOLUTION.  43 

deposits,  the  highest  creature — man — being  found  in 
the  latest  strata,  proving  that  the  series  of  forms  that 
we  now  observe  in  existing  life  have  been  gradually 
developed  in  the  same  ascending  series  during  the 
vast  periods  of  the  past. 

14.  The  development  of  mind  is  traced  upward 
from  the  lowest  instincts,  as  truly  as  is  the  develop- 
ment of  organic  forms  from  simpler  organisms,  show- 
ing no  need  for  the  theory  of  the  special  creation  of 
man's  reasoning  powers. 

1 5.  The  study  of  languages  reveals  an  orderly, 
gradual  development  of  speech,  corresponding  to  the 
growth  of  forms  of  life. 

16.  Moral  sentiments  have  unfolded  in  animals 
and  man  by  a  process  of  development,  similar  to 
what  is  observed  in  organic  forms. 

17.  There  is  no  evidence  that  any  thing  has  sud- 
denly come  into  existence  in  a  completely  developed 
form  of  varied  structure.  It  is  probable  that  the 
lowest  and  simplest  form  of  life  is  the  result  of  the 
combination  of  particles  of  matter  by  their  own  in- 
herent energy,  and  that  all  subsequent  develop- 
ments have  arisen  from  progressive  changes  that 
occurred  in  accordance  with  the  same  laws  of  nature 
that  surround  us  to-day. 

18.  Finally,  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  these 
progressive  changes  is  observed  to  be  the  struggle 
for  existence,  which  secures  the  survival  of  the  fittest, 
or  Natural  Sefectioo..    ... 

•   ♦  •  •    .  t  .  ,     0  ^  e       •'       J      >    s        "   »  «    f       •   »  ' 


44  EVOLUTION. 

The  First  Cause, 

But  does  Evolution  solve  all  the  mystery  of  life  ? 
No  one  pretends  that  it  does.  It  only  traces  back 
the  workings  of  natural  law  to  the  simplest  and 
earliest  combination  of  matter  and  force ;  the  primary 
cause  still  eludes  discovery.  But  beginning  with  the 
primeval  ether  or  gas  it  accounts  for  all  existing 
forms,  by  the  action  of  the  laws  of  nature  that  we 
now  see  in  operation.  The  origin  of  matter  and 
force  and  why  they  vary  in  their  productions  lie  still 
in  the  region  of  the  unknown,  but  we  will  not  say 
"  unknowable,"  for  who  shall  prescribe  limits  to  the 
future  investigations  of  man  ! 

Neither  does  Evolution  necessarily  question  the 
existence  of  God.  It  only  concerns  itself  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  the  Supreme  Power  works,  and 
claims  that  it  acts  through  Natural  Law  and  not 
through  miracle. 

Truly,  as  Darwin  says,  *'  there  is  grandeur  in  this 
view  of  life";  and  there  is  also  a  simplicity  in  it  that 
is  welcome  to  the  perplexed  mind  that  has  pondered 
with  dismay  on  the  incomprehensible  idea  of  a 
separate  act  of  creation  for  every  divergent  form 
of  life.  We  may  now  see  the  method  through 
which  the  Infinite  Power  works  out  in  orderly 
sequence  the  development  of  the  universe.  Man,  its 
highest  product,  is  brought  into  unison  and  sympathy 
with  all  nature,  and  is  stimulated  by  the  evidence  of 
past  progress  to  aspire  tpyvard  futqr^' possibility. 


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SZ^ed  ^.  . ^ , 

clear  some  of  the  grounds  for  the  bitter  haued  of  Europeans  .. ...;».  .^ ^ 

pressioa  in  the  inassacres  of  Alexandria.  The  story  as  giv»n,^«nd  each  statement  of 
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G.  p/ in^TKAVS  SON 8.  PITSUMBItS, 

27  1^19  W«itTw«iity^if(iftlrMVN«w  York. 


